The Maguindanaon language is the native language of the Maguindanaon people of the province of Maguindanao located in the west of Mindanao island in the south of the Philippines. It was the language of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, which lasted until near the end of the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century.
The earliest works on the language by a European were carried out by Jacinto Juanmartí, a Catalan priest of the Society of Jesus who worked in the Philippines in the second half of the 19th century.[3][4] Aside from a number of Christian religious works in the language,[6] Juanmartí also published a Maguindanao–Spanish/Spanish–Maguindanao dictionary and reference grammar in 1892.[7] Shortly after sovereignty over the Philippines was transferred from Spain to the United States in 1898 as a result of the Spanish–American War, the American administration began publishing a number of works on the language in English, such as a brief primer and vocabulary in 1903,[8] and a translation of Juanmartí's reference grammar into English in 1906.[9]
A number of works about and in the language have since been published by Filipino and foreign authors.
Maguindanao language in Arabic script on Maguindanao royal seal from the 18th century
Distribution
Maguindanaon has 3 major dialects: Taw sa ilud, Taw sa laya, and
Biwangen.
The phonemes /z/ and /dʒ/ only appear in loanwords. The sound [dʒ] also appears an allophonic realization for the sequences /d+s/ (e.g. [dʒaɭumˈanika]/(ə)dsalumanika/ 'repeat that!') and /d+i/ (only before another vowel before vowel, e.g. [ˈmidʒas]/midias/ 'stockings'); the sound [z] also appears as an allophone of /s/ before voiced consonants. /ɾ/ can also be trilled [r]. Intervocalic/d/ is realized as [ɾ].[10][11]
/ɾ/ and /l/ are interchangeable in words which include a written l, and the prevalence by which it is used or is dominant denotes the local dialects of Maguindanaon. /l/ may also be heard as a retroflex [ɭ] in intervocalic positions.[10] The Laya (Raya) or lowland dialect of Maguindanaon, spoken in and around Cotabato City, prefers the flapped r over l, while the more conservative upland variety spoken in Datu Piang and inland areas favors l.
Grammar
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
As in the Maranao language, Maguindanaon pronouns can be also free or bound to the word/morpheme before it.
Sangat i katulanged nengka / Matulanged ka a benal
You're so kind
Sangat i kalimu nengka / Malimu ka a benal
You're so beautiful
Sangat i kanisan nengka / Manisan ka a benal
Thanks!
Sukran!
Thank you!
Sukran sa leka!
Thank you very much!
Sukran a benal!
You're welcome
Afwan
Welcome!
Talus ka!
Yes
Uway
No
Di
None
Da
Not
Kena
Who?
Entain?
What?
Ngin?
Where?
Endaw?
Which?
Endaw san?
When?
Kanu?
How?
Panun?
Why?
Enduken?
This
Inia
That
Intu/Nan
There
San
Here
Sia
In
Lu
Signs
Street sign samples
No smoking
No littering
No spitting
Do not urinate here
Writing system
Maguindanao is written with the Latin script, and used to be written with the Jawi script. Among works on the language published by Jacinto Juanmartí, his sacred history Compendio de historia universal contains Maguindanao texts in both Jawi and the Latin script.[5]
^such as a Maguindanao–Spanish bilingual "sacred history", with a short wordlist, in 1888,[5][4] in which Maguindanao was written in both Arabic characters and the Latin alphabet
^Allison, E. Joe (1979). "Proto-Danaw: A Comparative Study of Maranaw, Magindanaw and Iranun". In Gallman, Andrew F.; Allison, E. Joe; Harmon, Carol W.; Witucki, Jeannette (eds.). Papers in Philippine Linguistics No. 10. Pacific Linguistics, Series A, No. 55. Canberra: The Australian National University. pp. 53–112. doi:10.15144/PL-A55.53.
Bibliography
Juanmartí, Jacinto (1892a). Diccionario moro-maguindanao-español [Moro-Maguindanao-Spanish dictionary] (in Spanish). Manila: Tipografía «Amigos del País».